Asher was a swaddle houdini.  No matter how I swaddled him he always managed to get the fabric up around his face and I was worried that he would suffocate.  Not swaddling wasn’t an option due to his over active arms, which would constantly flail about and keep him awake, so I was thrilled when I discovered the Woombie. This thing is seriously amazing.  There was absolutely no way that he could get out of it and I especially love the two way zipper, which made changing his diaper in the middle of the night a breeze.  They also come in a variety of fun colors and styles that suit any situation.  They have fleece ones for winter, cotton and mesh ones for summer and even a slightly tighter one called the ‘houdini‘, which was the very first one that I got Asher.  I eventually ended up getting a second woombie in their original style, just so that I would always have one handy if the other was in the wash.  I am in love!  They come in two sizes, but we never ended up needing to get the bigger size, since we stopped swaddling Asher before he got that big. The whole idea is that it’s supposed to mimic being in the womb.  The babies can still move their limbs about and bring their arms up to their chest (which is much nicer than having their arms strapped to their sides) but they can’t escape, which is key. At around $26 a piece, they are a bit pricey for a swaddler, but they’re a good quality stretchy fabric that held up beautifully to countless washes and I’ll be able to use them again for the future babes.  Overall I am really impressed with the Woombie. I suggest getting two, I thought I’d be able to get by with just one, but boy was I mistaken.  Get two, trust me.  The houdini is a bit tighter and shorter than the original.  So I suggest starting with the original and going from there.

I’m sorry, for this awful picture, but I promise he really did like it better than any other swaddle.  This is just the way Asher looked at me or anyone for that matter for the first two months of his life, with deep unbridled concern.  In fact, I took this very picture in order to send Rafaan an email, saying something like “this is why you need to be extra affectionate, how would you feel if you spent your day with someone who looked at you like this 95% of the time?”

Thank goodness, he’s all smiles now!

I should also mention that for the first couple months we only took iphone pictures of him, so that’s why all his early pictures are sub par.  I’m kicking myself over this, but at least his early months got documented.  Lastly, I’ll mention that one of Raf’s favorite things to do was free him from his cocoon after a long nap and to watch him perform an amazing stretch.

Seriously, the woombie was a lifesaver.